Holiday and Marketing Calendar for Restaurants and Bars: October 2025 to February 2026

Why the holidays are a revenue catalyst

The holiday season is the most lucrative stretch for restaurants and bars if you plan for it. Guests are primed for celebration, gifting, and premium experiences. This playbook shows how to maximize revenue, control costs, and grow loyalty.

Your road map

• Set goals and forecasts

• Menu and promotions planning

• Staffing and operations readiness

• Ambience, decor, and guest experience

• Marketing, email, social, and retention

• Technology, systems, and logistics

• Post-holiday follow-up and retention

• Metrics, feedback loops, and course correction

Set goals, forecasts, and financial baselines

Why it matters: No targets means overspend, understaffing, and missed revenue.

Actions

• Baseline last year: Revenue, AOV, covers per hour, peak times, spoilage, labor cost.

• Scenario model: Conservative, base, aggressive with revenue, covers, AOV, COGS, labor, promotion spend.

• SMART goals:

  • Increase December revenue 20 percent

  • Lift midweek traffic 15 percent

  • Add 1,000 email subscribers

  • Grow off-peak dinner covers 25 percent

• Margin buffer: Hold 10 to 15 percent for supply spikes, overtime, and no-shows.

• Milestones: Split by Nov, early Dec, holiday week, New Year, track weekly.

Menu and promotions: upsell, efficiency, flexibility

Menu strategy

• Signature holiday items: Two to three festive offerings that complement core bestsellers.

• Bundles: Prix fixe, share platters, tasting menus to raise per-head and speed ordering.

• Upsell paths: Premium sides, wine pairings, dessert flights, appetizer bundles.

• Sourcing: Lock suppliers early, confirm backups, standardize specs.

• Operational simplicity: Cross-utilize ingredients, avoid high-risk new techniques.

• Substitutions and allergies: Preplan and publish options.

• Pricing: Bake in holiday COGS without alienating guests.

Promotions

• Early bird: Incentives for early reservations and gift cards.

• Holiday happy hour: Off-peak themed cocktails and small bites.

• Gift cards: Buy 100, get 20 bonus.

• Local partners: Dinner and a movie, florist tie-ins, retail receipts for perks.

• Loyalty exclusives: Early access, bonus points, secret menus via iLoyal.

Staffing and operations readiness

Labor

• Forecast by hour and shift. Cross-train. Create a backup bench. Incentivize peak shifts.

Training

• Upselling, conflict resolution, speed drills, allergy protocol, and menu knowledge.

• Daily pre-shift huddles to align seat times and bottlenecks.

Prep and logistics

• Pre-batch sauces and garnishes. Verify equipment. Buffer disposables and packaging.

• Re-emphasize food safety. Protect staff wellbeing with meals, breaks, and recognition.

Ambience, decor, and guest experience

• Brand-fit decor: Elegant for fine dining, playful for casual.

• Lighting and music: Warm lighting, curated playlists.

• Scent: Subtle seasonal notes.

• Instagram moments: Photo wall, lit signage, tree display.

• Flow and comfort: Digital waitlist, clear queues, acoustics control, and HVAC capacity.

• Service pacing: Mini-courses or amuse to smooth peaks.

Marketing, email, social, and retention

Calendar

• Map mid-Oct through Jan for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Hanukkah, Christmas Eve and Day, New Year’s Eve and Day.

Email and SMS

• Segments: VIPs, high frequency, lapsed, and new signups.

• Cadence: Teasers, early reservations, gift card push, last-minute offers.

• Design: Mobile-first, festive headers, urgency cues, clear CTAs.

• Drips: Seats filling fast, countdowns, last chance.

• Recovery: Abandoned reservations and gift card carts.

• Optimization: Test subject lines, timing, and offer framing.

Social

• BTS kitchen and decor, countdowns, cocktail of the week, UGC prompts, and local paid geo-ads.

Loyalty

• Early access, referral rewards, and a post-dining thank you with bounce-back.

Internal link prompts:
Link to your Loyalty page, Gift Cards page, Catering or Events page, and Reservations page.

Technology, systems, and logistics

• Reservations and POS: Mobile-friendly, deposits, holds, SMS waitlist.

• Inventory: Threshold triggers, surge buffer, reliable vendors.

• Takeout and delivery: Packaging plan and staffing for volume.

• Scheduling: Software for coverage and cost control.

• Dashboards: Covers, table turns, AOV, top sellers, waste, labor ratio, cancellations. Alerts on dips or spikes.

Post-holiday follow-up and retention

• Thank you campaigns: Personal notes and bounce-back offers.

• Feedback: Guest survey and staff post-mortem.

• Re-engagement: Missed-you offers, extend points, preview winter menu, and Valentine’s.

• Seasonal transition: Remove heavy decor, roll out winter map.

Metrics and course correction

• Daily check-ins: Read dashboards and reviews.

• Pivot fast: Kill weak items, reassign staff, deploy elastic offers if demand is soft.

• Document everything: Create a holiday playbook for 2026.

Sample timeline: October to January

Pitfalls that kill ROI

• Overpromising and underdelivering

• Underestimating spoilage

• Staff burnout and turnover

• Poor cross-team communication

• Promo and ops misalignment

• Letting momentum fade in January

Why iLoyal is a strategic asset

• Integrated email and SMS for holiday schedules, gift cards, reservations, and offers

• Segmentation and loyalty mechanics for VIP and occasional guests

• Drips and automations that reduce manual effort

• Behavioral triggers to recover abandoned reservations and carts

• Central dashboards for revenue and engagement

• Post-holiday retention playbooks

CTA: Add an internal link to your iLoyal page and a contact CTA to SP Marketing Experts.

Holiday and marketing calendar: October 2025 to February 2026

October 2025

Key dates:
Oct 1 to 31 National Pizza Month, Oct 1 International Coffee Day, Oct 4 National Taco Day, Oct 12 Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct 16 Boss’s Day, Oct 25 National Greasy Foods Day, Oct 31 Halloween (Friday)

Promotion ideas:

• Launch holiday party booking campaign

• Fall cocktail features

• Costume contests and Halloween events

• Trick or Treat appetizer specials

• Double loyalty points before Halloween

November 2025

Key dates:
Nov 1 Day of the Dead, Nov 2 DST ends, Nov 11 Veterans Day, Nov 20 Beaujolais Nouveau Day, Nov 27 Thanksgiving, Nov 28 Black Friday, Nov 29 Small Business Saturday, Dec 1 Cyber Monday

Promotion ideas:

• Friendsgiving and Thanksgiving packages

• Veterans Day discount or free meal for veterans

• Gift card bonus offers

• Beaujolais tastings

• Black Friday e-gift card push and loyalty enrollment

• Small Business Saturday collabs

December 2025

Key dates:
Dec 7 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Dec 17 to 25 Hanukkah, Dec 21 Winter Solstice, Dec 24 Christmas Eve (Wednesday), Dec 25 Christmas Day (Thursday), Dec 26 Kwanzaa begins, Dec 31 New Year’s Eve (Wednesday)

Promotion ideas:

• Group dining and catering offers

• Holiday cocktails and limited menus

• Photo-worthy decor for social sharing

• Last-minute gift card campaigns

• 12 Days of Christmas promotions via iLoyal

• NYE prix fixe and live music

• NYE reservation countdown drips

January 2026

Key dates:
Jan 1 New Year’s Day (Thursday), Jan 6 Epiphany, Jan 15 National Bagel Day, Jan 19 MLK Day (Monday), Jan 25 National Irish Coffee Day, Jan 29 National Corn Chip Day

Promotion ideas:

• New Year, New Menu launch

• Hangover brunch on Jan 1

• Gift card redemption campaigns

• Dry January mocktails and low ABV

• Community tie-ins for MLK weekend

• January bounce-back emails

February 2026

Key dates:
Feb 2 Groundhog Day (Monday), Feb 8 Super Bowl Sunday (tentative), Feb 13 Galentine’s Day (Friday), Feb 14 Valentine’s Day (Saturday), Feb 16 Presidents Day (Monday), Feb 17 Mardi Gras (Tuesday), Feb 22 National Margarita Day (Sunday)

Promotion ideas:

• Super Bowl catering and watch parties

• Galentine’s group events

• Valentine’s prix fixe with early reservations

• Loyalty rewards for couples and groups

• Presidents’ Day long weekend specials

• Mardi Gras and Margarita Day features

• SMS and email reminders for Valentine’s bookings

Campaign strategy breakdown

Social media and content planning

Operational deadlines

Key marketing themes to drive revenue

• Holiday parties and corporate events: Push early bookings with email, SMS, and loyalty benefits.

• Gift card sales: Buy 100, get 20 bonus across email, SMS, and in-store.

• Winter comfort menus: Hearty dishes and cozy cocktails for Jan.

• Romantic and social dining: February couples and group experiences.

• Retention: Use iLoyal automation to bring holiday guests back before March.

FAQ

How early should holiday planning start?
Eight to ten weeks ahead. That gives time for testing creative, locking suppliers, and building reservations before ad costs spike.

How should restaurants split their budget across channels?
Use a balanced mix: 30 to 40 percent awareness, 25 to 35 percent consideration, 20 to 30 percent conversion, with 5 to 10 percent flex.

What makes a holiday ad convert?
Clarity, urgency, emotional connection, and platform-fit creative that matches the landing page and checkout flow.

How often should the creative be refreshed during peak?
Every 5 to 7 days to avoid fatigue.

What is the most common mistake?
Launching late and running disjointed promos that ops cannot fulfill. Align marketing with operations.